FIA president Jean Todt has called for an emergency meeting on Wednesday after Lewis Hamilton described the four tyre failures which marred Sunday’s British Grand Prix as ‘unacceptable’.

Furious Hamilton - who called for manufacturer Pirelli to make changes - was leading at Silverstone when he suffered a tyre blowout at high speed.

The British driver was the first of four drivers to fall victim to a tyre failing during Sunday’s grand prix, with Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez suffering identical punctures in the action-packed race.

Dejected: Lewis Hamilton's race was undermined by a tyre puncture

‘The safety is the biggest issue. It’s just unacceptable really,’ said Hamilton, who battled from last to finish fourth following his puncture on lap eight.

‘I think we had that tyre test to develop and improve the tyre and stop that from happening. And after the tyre test they didn’t do anything about it.

‘And to have four blowouts - it could have happened at high speed, someone could have crashed and I was thinking in the race behind the Safety Car it’s only until someone gets hurt that someone’s going to do something about it.’

Todt has told Pirelli to be in Paris on Wednesday to propose a solution at a meeting of the Sporting Working Group due to concerns about driver safety.

But Hamilton, who saw team-mate Nico Rosberg win for a second time this season after capitalising on Sebastian Vettel’s late retirement, added: ‘I think it’s a waste of time talking to anyone at the moment, if I’m honest.’

Tyred out: Lewis Hamilton was seriously undermined in his attempts to win at Silverstone

Under fire: Pirelli engineers examine a set of their compound tyres in the paddock

Hamilton’s former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button was also scathing of the tyres and called for immediate changes.

‘It is very scary not just for the people driving the car, but the drivers behind,’ said Button after Kimi Raikkonen was struck by bits of rubber from Vergne’s tyre.

‘Happening in a slow speed corner is pretty bad. But happening at 300kph which is what Perez’s went at, it’s not right and it’s not just dangerous for the driver in the car, but it’s dangerous for all the cars behind.

‘First of all he could lose control at that speed but also the cars behind are getting hit with a massive belt of rubber, which has got metal in it, so it’s got to change.’

'Scary': Jenson Button was also scathing of the tyres

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery was unwilling to offer any early explanation for the cause of the failures, insisting matters needed to be analysed.

‘It was something unforeseen,’ said Hembery. ‘We’ve seen something new, a different type of problem. It was one tyre, at the rear, so we need to understand.

‘We are currently performing, as ever, our analysis. We have to go away and understand what has happened today.

‘When we’ve got the facts then we can understand and get to the core of the issue. We take things seriously, and when we have the answers we will let you know.

‘We need to analyse it properly to give the correct reply.’

BRITISH GRAND PRIX TYRE FIASCO: LAP-BY-LAP

The British Grand Prix was today overshadowed by a string of tyre failures that will lead to serious questions being asked of manufacturer Pirelli.

In the space of eight laps over the first third of the race there were three failures, ultimately resulting in the introduction of the safety car after 15 laps to aid the marshals clear the debris.

All incidents involved the left-rear tyre, as was the case with Sergio Perez in final practice yesterday, with the Mexican unfortunately the final victim late in the race.

Lap eight:

Leading the race after making a strong start from pole position, Lewis Hamilton is the first to suffer as he heads down the Wellington Straight, his left-rear exploding and rapidly delaminating. Hamilton manages to make it back to the pits on just the wheel rim, but given he was only just over four corners into the lap, the time lost sees him drop to the back of the pack.

Lap 11:

Coming out of Aintree Corner on to the Wellington Straight, Ferrari's Felipe Massa is the next to suffer a blow-out. Running fourth at the time, Massa spins off the track, and like Hamilton faces a long, slow journey back to the pits to take on fresh tyres, the Brazilian relegated to last.

Lap 15:

Travelling at a speed of around 160mph at the end of the Hangar Straight into the gentle right-hander at Stowe, Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne manages to hang on to his car under braking as his left-rear gives way. Vergne was the more fortunate of the trio as his incident was close to the pit entrance, resulting in a short trip to take on new tyres.

It was at this point, with tyre carcasses strewn across the track, that race director Charlie Whiting deployed the safety car.

Lap 46:

Shortly after a second safety car incident to remove Sebastian Vettel's stricken Red Bull after he suffered a transmission failure, Perez suffered his second blow-out in two days to end his race.There were two other notable incidents as Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez suffered a puncture to his front-left due to a cut, but no serious delamination.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, has confirmed he incurred a failure to his right-rear tyre just as he came into the pits for his stop.